Search Results for: blog stress and digestion

Medication and the First Trimester

At the beginning of the week I cautioned against going off medication when you get pregnant.  Now I want to write a follow-up, because it actually is important to know any potential dangers with medicine and the first trimester. As a rule I’ve avoided reading lists of dangers, side effects, and rare pregnancy and birth problems.  They’ll just cause me unnecessary stress, and since pregnant women usually see their doctors at least once a month, I trust mine to keep me informed about anything that will actually/is actually affecting me.  But it is important to know that the first trimester … Continue reading →

Acupuncture and the Atkins Diet

Posted on by

One of the reasons that I chose the Atkins diet was because I wanted to lose weight. The other reason was to help me figure out if I really did have an allergy to gluten. My acupuncturist was able to help me confirm that I do, unfortunately, have a gluten allergy. I started going for acupuncture treatments earlier this year, months before starting the Atkins diet. My main objective with acupuncture was to see if it could help me with my many allergies. I remember that I had a particularly rough week, allergically speaking, and was searching for absolutely anything … Continue reading →

Protecting your Husband’s Health

Stress can come to all of us at times. Stress can cause all sorts of health issues, like heart disease, stomach ulcers, migraines, and, some believe, cancer. As much as possible try and keep stress to a minimum by trying to make your home a peaceful place. Make sure you both have a time to relax, enjoy a hobby and have couple time when you can talk things through. Don’t let your expectations put too much stress on your spouse. In this day and age money issues are a point of concern, so watch the spending so it does not … Continue reading →

Laugh at Stress

Studies have shown that laughter is a GREAT way to deal with stress. In the short term: Laughter enhances your oxygen intake. That in turn stimulates your heart, your lungs, and your muscles. Laughter makes your brain release endorphins — happy chemicals. Laughter can ease digestion problems. Laughter can stimulate blood circulation, which can help reduce some of the physical symptoms of stress. Laughter also activates — and then cools down — your body’s stress response. It can rev up your heartbeat and boost your blood pressure, leaving you feeling more relaxed as things calm down again. In the long … Continue reading →

Teachers Dealing with Stress

Posted on by

Teaching can be a very stressful job. Unlike some other professions, teachers form emotional relationships with many people. Teachers must connect with children, parents, co-workers, and the community. Unlike dealing with products, teachers build human beings. Children can often be on emotional roller coasters. The success of a teacher can depend greatly on the success of others. Teachers are given strict guidelines and standards. Teachers have very little control over the regulations of their classrooms. Teachers are also closely observed and many times placed under a microscope by the community. All of these factors can lead to stress and burnout. … Continue reading →

Stress and Digestion

Stress affects most organs of the body and the stomach is no exception. Stress can cause those familiar knots in the stomach, some types of ulcers, constipation, diarrhea, poor absorption of nutrients leading to further ill health, and oversecretion of stomach acids. If all this sounds like a pain in the gut, it is! Of course, not all these conditions are caused by stress alone, but a person who is subjected to chronic stressors in their life will almost always suffer some form of digestional difficulty. It may be a sore stomach, frequent burping, heartburn or gastric reflux, or bouts … Continue reading →

Most Important Early Pregnancy Advice

Many people might start off their first pregnancy blog with a story: why they decided to have a baby (or not), the story of how they became pregnant, their early thoughts on pregnancy and childbirth.  I might get to all of that, or I might not.  But today I want to share one of the most important things I learned in my first month of pregnancy: do not go off any medication without talking to your doctor first. This might seem silly or obvious, but I cannot stress how important it is.  My whole first trimester might have taken a … Continue reading →

The Physical Effects of Anxiety

It may start in your head, but chronic anxiety – day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year – inevitably elicits some pretty profoundly negative responses from the rest of your body. So if you’re living with anxiety, as well as a painful or troublesome physical condition – particularly of the heart, lungs, stomach, muscles, skin, immune system, reproductive system, weight and/or head (as in headaches) – it’s time to make the connection. You may literally be making yourself sick with worry. As shared in my new book, Overcoming, Anxiety, Worry, and Fear: Practical Ways to … Continue reading →

Pregnancy Awareness Month (Part II)

Posted on by

With the support of “Healthy Child Healthy Word.” P.A.M. are getting the word out about healthy pregnancy. Today’s blog will focus on what P.A.M. has found to be the Five Things Pregnant Woman Complain About. Number One: Excess Weight Gain Pregnancy plays quite the number on the pregnant woman’s body. During pregnancy a woman’s body goes into storage mode. So that pint of ice cream you could eat pre-pregnancy and burn off with a good cardio, isn’t going to happen during pregnancy. The recommended weight gain for a pregnant women with a healthy BMI is 25-35 pounds. There are many … Continue reading →

The Importance of Proper Breathing

One of the things I really enjoy about my Wii Fit Plus is that it draws my attention to aspects of fitness I might not otherwise think about, such as my posture and “Don’t forget to breathe.” I remember the first time I heard my virtual yoga instructor tell me to not forget to breathe. I thought, “Well of course, I would be dead” but there is more to it than just breathing to stay alive. What happens is that if you aren’t properly breathing while exercising, it can cause you to get an ache in your chest. Part of … Continue reading →